Hold on to your seats, friends and family, a "lotta" pictures are coming your way! My MIL will probably be the only one who cares to see all of these, but I thought she would be interested in knowing what has been going on in our lives. This was all pre-FL trip, and I knew if I didn't get them posted. . . who knows when they would be shared.

Our schedules have been humming with activity as we ~

are plugging along in school. 69 days are behind us.

Training - lots of training - as in this situation when I found the kitchen floor after Ethan had "cleaned up the Play-Doh." Hmmmm. Somehow we have a differing opinion of the words "clean up."

And the little lad keeps growing and growing and growing. . .

My parents and younger sister came for a visit, and I couldn't resist posting a picture of Silas' decoration on my Dad's head. :-)

The boys have been fishing. Well, one was fishing all the time, and the other thought the huge dirt pile was a bit more inviting.

The very patient fisherman. I believe he caught more turtles than fish.

While my Mom was here to watch the boys, Troy and I went away to a bed/breakfast in Asheville. Lovely time. I did offer to cut Troy's food as we were eating. I think I have lost the art of only messing with my own plate. And my food was hot, and I ate ALL of it while it was hot. I think that is a lost art as well - at least for now. :-)

The boys and I went hiking with my Dad at Table Rock State Park. It was a long and strenuous hike, but we were headed toward our reward - a waterfall high on the mountain!

Seth kept finding creatures along the way. He thinks this is great. I think it is great as long as I do not have to touch them. :-)

I loved the huge boulders!

The occasional view of the countryside was fabulous! And it all seemed so worthwhile as we climbed - heading for the beautiful waterfall in the mountains.

Several hours and miles later, this was the "beautiful" mountain waterfall we ascended to view! You have to look hard to find the thing! I hid my disappointment as my Dad went off on a humorous rant on how he could make a better waterfall with a hose. I had forgotten to take into account the awful drought and how it would have affected the waterfall! My Dad gave me a good laugh though. Poor guy! He said it was abuse to drag a 59 year old up a mountain to see that! :-)

Another picture of my cutie patootie.

Field trip time to Roper Mountain Science Center in Greenville. I love history, so this is my kind of thing.

Ginning cotton at the farm.A scene from one of the Civil War reenactments we saw. Another picture of my cutie patootie eating from a "big boy" plate for the first time.Ahhhh - the lake at this time of year! Isn't it absolutely gorgeous?! Attending a Greenville Chorale concert where "Daddy" was singing.

The boys and their kind Dad who agreed to sleep on the hard bumpy ground with them for a night.

Maybe the waterfall is better when Greenville isn't under such an extreme drought????? Let's hope so!

If you like big boulders, you really need to take your kids to Devil's Den at Gettysburg. Be sure to hit the gift shop to purchase souvenier guns BEFORE going to Devil's Den or the guys will want to go back WITH their guns.

Hey girl, not sure if I'd told you that I'd started a blog. I figured since a lot of my friends were giving me glimpses into their lives, through blogs.. maybe I should return the favor. Though, I must admit... my life is not half as interesting as yours. :) Miss you and think of you often!!

HI Martha,I thought I should speak up since I mostly lurk. Love seeing all your pictures and enjoy the descriptions just as much. LOL!!When are you moving back our direction? I know Nancy and I would love to have you back. Come visit my blog too, I update much more now that I have a verizon wireless card.:)Stay in touch!

Loved the waterfall story! We definately have two kinds of hiking: destination hiking WITHOUT the kids...and meandering hiking WITH the kids.

A certain member of our family has a tendency to be goal-driven in hiking. Mix that with kiddos in packs and diapers and snacks and you get disaster. So we've learned to meander. Guess that's why I could feel your pain at the pathetic trickle. Looks fun!